December 2007 - Posts
In a season where few teams have been actual surprises to start the year – Ole Miss, Miami (Fla.), Saint Mary’s, Drake, among the most notable – the most impressive group start has to be from the Atlantic 10, where the conference is off to its best start since St. Joseph’s stole the hoops spotlight in 2003-04.
Huh. Has Jameer Nelson really been in the NBA four years? Doesn’t seem that long ago when Nelson was leading St. Joe’s to a 30-2 season and just missing out on the Final Four. His Hawks and Xavier, which also reached the Elite Eight that season, helped make the A-10 one of that season’s big stars.
That hasn’t been the case for the A-10 the last few years.
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The only thing surprising about Pitt’s loss to Dayton was the final score. A 25-point loss on the road probably irks Jamie Dixon’s team more than the opponent.
Once again, Memphis’ depth wins out, with a boost from stellar defense. Not sure Jerryd Bayless would’ve been the difference for Arizona, but it couldn’t have hurt.
The Kansas fan in me hates that Oklahoma can beat West Virginia in Morgantown. The hoops fan in me loves games like this, though. Blake Griffin is a beast.
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No. 1 North Carolina had little trouble with Nevada on Thursday. Tyler Hansbrough was his usual dominant self (26 points, 8 rebounds, 1.35 PPWS), Wayne Ellington continued to show improvement as a perimeter threat (23 points, 1.78 PPWS, boosted by 5-of-8 from three-point land) and Ty Lawson scored 16 and had a career high 10 assists.
But when reserve guard Bobby Frasor went down clutching his knee midway through the second half, all that was forgotten. Ol’ Roy did his best to lighten the mood, but to no avail. He knows this’ll be big.
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The scowl is back. The only question is, when will that scowl see its 800th victory?
Longtime coach Eddie Sutton, out of the game for nearly two years after the fallout from a DUI when he was at Oklahoma State, is bringing his hangdog look to the West Coast to take over the San Francisco Dons.
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Everything old is new again. And by old, I mean seven years old.
Technically, Michigan State’s win against Texas Saturday was on a neutral court. Not sure playing in Auburn Hills, Mich., counts as a neutral court (since the campus is about 80 miles away), but that doesn’t take away from a nice, nice win for Tom Izzo’s team.
That should officially log the Spartans as national title contenders.
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In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a big game Saturday between No. 2 Memphis and No. 5 Georgetown. (It’s not even the only Top 10 game. No. 4 Texas plays No. 10 Michigan State in Auburn Hills. Score one for hoops fans.)
Nearly 19,000 people are expected (including 15 NBA scouts, or so) to watch the Tigers and Hoyas face off in what could be a Final Four preview.
But I’m more amazed at the run Memphis is likely embarking on, which could result in a title for John Calipari.
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The next few months will be a little quieter during college basketball games. And it’s not a good thing.
ESPN’s Dick Vitale will have throat surgery to remove lesions from his left vocal cord and will be out until at least February. (If you want to send a “get well” message to Dickie V, click here.)
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Monday was another typical day for Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley. He scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds – his 10th double-double in 10 games this season – and helped the Wildcats to an easy win over Florida A&M.
But even a player as spectacular as Beasley hasn’t been able to transform K-State into a good team.
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There are 14 unbeaten men’s teams remaining in D-I. How many will remain at the end of the month?
What about at the end of January? Two team have done that in the last four years. And I think two teams have a chance to do just that this season. But let’s start with who’s most unlikely to do so.
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Ah, rivalries. The best part of college basketball’s regular season.
Whether it’s Duke-Carolina, Kentucky-Louisville or any of the more regional – and perhaps even more heated – matchups like Kansas-Missouri, Indiana-Purdue, Arizona-UCLA or Philly’s Big Five provide fodder for hoops fans to argue about and cheer for.
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Finals week always creates a dearth of college basketball games. So it’s nice when you get a game like St. Mary’s vs. Southern Illinois. (Added bonus: The Gaels entered the game ranked No. 1 in kenpom.com’s RPI.)
It’s one of those matchups that help burnish a mid-major’s résumé for March and gives the rest of us an idea of just how good some of the elite teams from different conferences compare.
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If VMI is the D-I version of a high-powered offense, then Grinnell College runs on rocket fuel.
And it shot David N. Arsenault right into the NCAA record books -- with the help of his teammates.
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Nothing like a victory milestone to prompt stories about the coach involved. Then again, who needs an excuse when it’s Rick Pitino?
The Louisville coach could earn his 500th career win on Saturday, a nice round coaching milestone any way you slice it.
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You gotta love Deadspin. The snarky, irreverent humor, the plentiful links and the wide range of stories, a good portion coming from other blogs.
It all leads to stuff like this.
The gist is prized Kentucky recruit Alex Legion will transfer at the end of the fall semester. Legion, along with Patrick Patterson, was one of the fab freshmen who was supposed to make Billy Gillispie’s first year in Lexington a little easier.
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Time for some hyperbole. Tuesday’s Memphis-USC matchup in the Jimmy V Classic has an all-encompassing storyline: Derrick Rose vs. O.J. Mayo.
Nevermind that it’ll be the second Top 5 team the Trojans will have faced in a three-day span. Forget that it’s another elite non-conference foe the Tigers slated this season, which also has games against Georgetown, Arizona and Gonzaga yet to come.
After all, this game is a rematch.
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